From Paul Orude, Bauchi
Governor Bala Mohammed, along with his deputy, Mohammed Auwal Jatau, was on Monday sworn in for a second tenure, with an assurance to recruit 20, 000 youth as local vigilantes to curb insecurity.
Speaking after taking the oath of office, presided by Justice Rabi Talatu Umar, the Chief Judge of the state at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium, Mohammed said his second administration would tackle insecurity headlong.
“We have decided to put into action the already established Bauchi State Vigilante and Youth Empowerment Agency that is modelled after Amotekun in the South West,” he said.
“This security agency will stabilise the substantially effective security infrastructure already existing at the local government level.
“It is expected that about 20,000 youth will be recruited under the first phase of the programme.
“It is important to state that the vigilante has been very effective in checkmating the activities of those who infiltrate our rural areas with the sole intent of displacing the indigenes.
“To such people, let the word go forth from here that while we will always welcome visitors on genuine legitimate missions, we will never allow our land to be taken over by bandits coming from some other states.
“To put it starkly, what we have achieved we will maintain at all costs”
Governor Mohammed charged traditional rulers, religious and community leaders in the state to continue to play their God-given roles as ‘first line of defence’.
He assured that his administration would strive to checkmate marauders including those involved in illegal logging, the sale of charcoal and the destruction of our traditional forests.
“These heinous activities must stop,” he warned.
“To this end, I enjoin our highly revered traditional rulers to take this as a sacred duty because to whom much has been given much is expected.
“With all due respect, we can no longer tolerate the nefarious activities of these people.
“Therefore, going forward, traditional rulers will be held responsible for such mindless plundering of the state’s resources under their watch.
“Still on security, and in recognition of Bauchi’s vast land boundaries with seven states, we also intend to promote the establishment of the highly successful ‘inter-state’ security model that I initiated when I was minister of the Federal capital territory (FCT).
“That collaborative arrangement involved the FCT and all the states bordering the capital city namely: Nasarawa, Kaduna, Niger and Kogi States.
“In the context of Bauchi, such an arrangement will include Kano and Jigawa to the North, Taraba and Plateau to the South, Gombe and Yobe to the East and Kaduna to the West.
“That is why the state is pursuing a partnership with the Chinese in deploying modern technology for surveillance and tracking to boost our security architecture.
“The Chinese Ambassador and his officials have visited Bauchi to express their strong commitment in collaborating with the State to achieve this objective.”